General Report

This is the summarizes the key activities conducted at the Nakoyo and Nayanae Ngitiira Early Childhood Development (ECD) centers in Kakuma, Turkana West Sub-County, from January 1st to March 31st, 2025. The name of the project is supporting vulnerable children through education in Turkana west, the focus of these activities has been on promoting the feeding program, improving learning standards, formation of parental groups and fostering parental engagement to create a supportive environment for the holistic development of the children in their education.

 Promotion of Feeding Program:

• Consistent provision of nutritious meals to children at both ECD centers.
• Sensitization sessions with parents and caregivers on the importance of balanced nutrition for child development and the benefits of the school feeding program.
•  Monitoring of food supplies, preparation, and distribution to ensure efficiency and hygiene.
•  Maintained a consistent attendance rate, potentially linked to the provision of daily meals.
•  Increased awareness among parents regarding the nutritional needs of young children, as observed during parental meetings.

 Improving Learning Standards:

•  Implementation of age-appropriate and stimulating learning activities aligned with the ECD Competency Based Curriculum.
•  Provision of learning materials and resources, including writing books, drawing books, pencils and rubbers, crayons and building blocks
• Regular monitoring of classroom activities and teacher support through observations, mentorship and training parental groups
•  Introduction of play-based learning and literacy corners.
• Observed increased engagement and participation of children in classroom activities.
• Teachers demonstrated improved skills in delivering interactive lessons from the previous social emotional trainings.
• Initial assessments indications like improved recognition of letters/numbers, enhancing social interactions.
• Improved classroom enrolment from 53 learners to 174 with a ratio of 94 boys to 80 girls.

Parental Meeting Engagement:

•  Conducted regular parental meetings at both Nakoyo and Nayanae Ngitiira ECD centers this is thrice every month.
• Utilized meetings as a platform to discuss children's progress, school activities, and the importance of parental involvement in their children's education.
• Facilitated interactive sessions and workshops on topics such as hygiene practices, positive parenting, supporting learning at home and Social emotional learning during parental groups meetings.
• Established/strengthened communication channels between the school and parents through WhatsApp groups, regular newsletters and during parental meeting engagements.
• Witnessed increased attendance and active participation of parents in the meetings from 44 to 150
• Received positive feedback from parents regarding the usefulness of the information shared and the opportunity to engage with the school.
• Observed increased parental involvement in school activities and children's learning at home.

Lesson Learned

We have learned the importance of community involvement in school programs

We have learned effective communication strategies

The impact of consistent feeding and the importance of school feeding programs

Recommendations and Next Steps

• Seeking additional resources for learning materials
• Organizing more focused workshops for parents on specific topics especially with socio emotional learning to strengthen the well being if the children
• Exploring ways to address the identified learning challenges.